Decisions
by Mione of Ravenclaw
Summary: Hermione and Ginny have been together for four years when they make a spontaneous decision. Will it strengthen thier relationship or break it apart? Sequel to "Demonstrations," though it can be read alone. Hermione/Ginny femmeslash
1. Wedding Feelings

**A/N- I finally did it! I managed to start the 'sequel' to "Demonstrations." You don't have to have read all, or even any of "Demonstrations" to understand this fic. Here we go on another Hermione/Ginny adventure...**

**Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling. I just took two of her characters and made them lesbians for my own amusement, and hopefully the amusement of my readers and reviewers.**

It was a beautiful wedding, it really was. Hermione was not what one would call a hopeless romantic, and as such she was not one who generally bought into the wedding hype. This though, Harry and Katie Bell's wedding, it was gorgeous, really everything she thought a celebration of matrimony ought to be.

The wedding, an outdoor June affair on the edge of a gorgeous lake, consisted of Katie's family and the Weasleys, Harry's unofficial family, along with a handful of friends for each. The site had some of the strongest security charms around to avoid unwanted attention of the media, so there existed a calm about the place that Hermione rarely felt in such a public, open area. The view didn't hurt either. The crystal clear water of the lake reflected mountain ranges lining the far shore and trees dotted the grassy shore nearby.

It wasn't just the location, or the ceremony, or any of those things that struck Hermione most. It was the way that Harry and Katie acted around each other. They couldn't seem to stop grinning and looking at each other, as though they couldn't believe that it was real. As she watched their first dance, it seemed as though nothing else mattered in the entire world for the pair. Such sappy thoughts were dangerously close to being hopelessly romantic, Hermione knew that. But there was something about seeing two people so in love that makes a person a tad more romantic. She couldn't help that, and didn't really want to. The sight of the two lovers also had a way of making a person want to be that in love, or be with the one they love.

Apparently, Ginny had the same thought, as she walked up behind Hermione and wrapped her arms around Hermione's waist as the brunette surveyed the party.

"Fancy a dance?" Ginny said softly into Hermione's ear.

Hermione twisted around and smiled before planting a lingering kiss on Ginny's lips. "I'd love a dance."

She led Ginny out onto the middle of the dance floor where a few couples were dancing to the slow, mellow kind of music that is played at the end of a party. Hermione wrapped her arms around Ginny's neck as they swayed to the song that was currently playing, a popular love ballad. Hermione closed her eyes and rested her head on Ginny's shoulder while moving closer. In response, Ginny stroked Hermione's hair and whispered in her ear.

"I love you so much," she said. Even though Hermione and Ginny had said those words to each other many times over the course of their four year relationship, the thrill of hearing it hadn't worn off for Hermione, especially when Ginny said it with so much conviction.

Hermione was so overcome with emotions, or quite possibly the two or three glasses of champagne, that she couldn't stand it anymore. She pulled Ginny in for a kiss the likes of which they usually saved for private moments. Ginny, though surprised by Hermione's sudden show of affection in full view of all the party guests, was a very willing participant. They only stopped kissing when Ginny caught sight of a few of the male guests watching their embrace very intently. She cast them a dirty look, which was effective enough to scatter the small group. Hermione glanced over at the spot where the group had been standing and smirked.

"They just want what they know they can't have," Hermione said, "that, I think, is the appeal that lesbians hold for men."

"Really?" Ginny said, "you see, lesbians hold a different appeal for me."

"And what might that be?" Hermione asked.

"In my experience," Ginny said as she lowered her voice and pulled Hermione closer, "making love to a woman is much better than fucking any man."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat at hearing Ginny's whisper. It was more about how Ginny spoke, the warm breath on her cheek, than what Ginny was saying that made Hermione want Ginny so desperately in that moment. She found it amazing that Ginny had used that same trick on a number of ocassions and it still worked every time.

Fortunately for Hermione, the reception was starting to wind down and only a few more songs played before the music faded out. Ginny and Hermione found Harry and Katie, both looking exhausted, but happy, and congratulated them before returning to their new home.

When the pair dissapperated into their spacious two bedroom house, Ginny immediately stretched out on the couch, overcome by exhaustion that comes with a day of celebration. Hermione did the same after casting a quick spell at the fireplace that made an inviting fire spring to life. She snuggled as close as she could get to Ginny, and Ginny kissed the brunette on the forehead.

"Love you," Hermione said, then hesistated before continuing, "you know, today, it gave me feelings."

"Really? What kind of feelings?" Ginny asked as she rested her chin on Hermione's head.

"Wedding feelings," Hermione said without elaborating.

"Well, that's not really shocking," Ginny said, "it was a wedding after all."

"No, that's not it," Hermione said, finding herself in the unfamiliar predicament of feeling unable to express herself, "it made me want to, you know, um, do the same."

"You want to get married?" Ginny asked, looking down at Hermione, who was doing her best to avoid eye contact.

"I'm just saying that it gave me that feeling," Hermione said.

"So you're not proposing?" Ginny asked.

"No, I was just making an observation," Hermione said.

"That's good," Ginny said, before adding quickly, "I have to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back."

When Ginny left the room, Hermione's mind began racing. Did Ginny not want to get married, not want that kind of commitment? She began to think that maybe she should have never brought it up, that maybe she scared Ginny. Hermione did want to make that kind of commitment to Ginny, but she really didn't want to force the issue for fear of ruining quite possibly the best thing that had ever happened to her.

When Ginny returned, her face was unreadable. Usually, Hermione could read Ginny very easily, having known her for more than half her life, but Ginny was being purposely mysterious and Hermione wasn't quite sure that she liked it. Ginny knelt on the sofa facing Hermione. Her posture was relaxed, but she looked at Hermione very seriously. Ginny licked her lips a few times and took Hermione's hand before speaking. It seemed as though she was getting ready to make a long speech, but when she spoke, she only said one thing.

"Let's get married," Ginny said. It was a strange combination of a question and a suggestion, as though she wasn't sure how to go about the proposal.

"What?" Hermione asked. Ginny's question should not have seemed so out of the blue, considering their previous conversation.

Ginny looked down at her hands and smiled nervously as she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small black box. That moment, it all came together for Hermione, she understood, and was overcome by an unexpected wave of emotions.

Ginny too felt a surge of emotion at seeing Hermione's face when she opened the box, and fought back happy tears only by exercising an incredible amount of restraint.

"I've had this for a little while now," Ginny said, after a deep, calming breath, "I just thought now was as good a time as any. So, Hermione Granger, will you marry me?"

Hermione nodded vigorously and kissed Ginny with everything that she had. She hadn't realized how very much she had been wanting this moment until it happened. Ginny, for her part, reciprocated, and only pulled away to smile at Hermione and put the ring on the brunette's finger and so that they could both wipe their slightly watery eyes. Ginny thought that Hermione's face glowed as she looked from the ring to Ginny and back.

"Come here," Hermione said as she took Ginny's hand and stood up.

She led Ginny to their bedroom, where she lay down on the bed and pulled Ginny down for a kiss. Ginny was quickly on the bed, resting on top of Hermione. The kisses were soft, but had an urgency to them that neither had experienced in awhile. Hands slowly began to roam. Ginny's fingers traced lightly under Hermione's sweater, moving gradually further north, while Hermione slowly slid her hand up Ginny's back under her shirt. They got so involved in kissing, touching, tasting each other that neither Hermione nor Ginny could recall with much clarity how they both ended up naked. Naked they were though, with Ginny straddling Hermione's waist as they admired each other's forms for a moment. After a few seconds, Hermione reached up and pulled Ginny in for a kiss.

"I've been wanting to do this all day," Hermione whispered breathlessly.

"Really? I never would have guessed from the way that you nearly shagged me right on the dance floor," Ginny said with a mischievious smirk.

Hermione laughed; it was a throaty laugh that Ginny always found incredibly attractive.

"Let's just take our time," Hermione said as she began to massage Ginny's breasts, eliciting a small gasp from the redheaded witch, "I want us to take our time on each other. I want us to remember this forever."

"I can do that," Ginny said as she leaned down and kissed Hermione's neck before slowly moving downward and going to work, kissing, rubbing, licking all the places that she knew Hermione liked.

By the time they were done, both women lay next to each other. They were thoroughly spent, but both Hermione and Ginny were positive that this was a night neither would forget.

**A/N-Sorry I didn't go into detail at the end there. I was just feeling as though I was on fluff overload in this chapter, and anything more would have been over the top. Other than the fluffiness, how'd everyone like the start? **

**Optional question of the chapter: Do you feel the same way about weddings as Hermione felt about this one, or are you a little less optimistic?**

**A review is like a box of chocolates. I'll always be thrilled to get one, regardless of the size. So give me some chocolates, won't you? :) **


	2. Holding Hands

**A/N-There's not much to say here, except thanks for all the great reviews and keep them coming :)...**

**Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, but you probably already know that based on the femmeslashy fluff of the last chapter.**

In the days after their engagement, Hermione and Ginny decided that they would try to keep it under wraps until they could announce the engagement to the entire Weasley clan and Harry at once. In such a tightly knit group, if they told one person, it had a way of getting to everyone else within the hour. They also ran the risk of the media somehow catching wind of the impending nuptials before the couple had a chance to inform everyone.

Keeping the secret wasn't difficult, since they didn't see many of the Weasleys aside from Harry and Ron outside of the frequent family parties. They just agreed to keep their rings on the nightstand by their bed when they were going out or to work. Aside from that, they tried to act the same as before. Apparently they weren't acting the same; Ron, of all people, started to notice a difference in their behavior. He brought it up as Ron and Hermione grabbed a quick lunch together in a ministry break room on a Friday a week or two after the proposal.

"So," Ron said to Hermione through a mouthful of ham sandwich, "you've been weird lately."

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, refraining from commenting on Ron's dining etiquette and lack of tact.

"I mean you and Ginny, you've been all lovey," Ron said after swallowing his mouthful of food, "for awhile there you were acting, well, normal. Now when I'm with you two it's like when you first started dating, really affectionate and all over each other, like last night when we were over at Harry's. It's weird."

"First of all, Ron," Hermione said after taking a sip of water, "you didn't even realize it when we first started dating. And we are not all over each other. We're in a relationship, and as such, we enjoy each other's company."

"You know what I mean. You're acting like people do when they first start dating," Ron said as he balled up a piece of scrap paper on the break room table and tried to toss it into a nearby rubbish bucket.

"If that's what you think, that's fine with me," Hermione said breezily as she got up to throw away Ron's makeshift ball, which had sailed far to the left of its mark. She didn't want to protest too much and raise more suspicion. She had also been in a very good mood since the engagement and had become less inclined to quarreling with Ron.

"That's another thing," Ron said as he looked intently at the back of Hermione's head while she got her things together to return to her desk in the magical law department, "You've been nicer to me. You know, you're in a strangely good mood. You haven't snapped at me for nothing in almost an entire week."

"I never snap at you without reason, Ron," Hermione said very matter-of-factly, "and if you want me to bitch at you, I'd be happy to oblige."

Hermione hoped that the swearing and the threat would deter Ron from his line of questioning. As much as she trusted Ron, she found him incapable of keeping a secret from his mother, so she couldn't let him catch on. The tactic seemed to work, as Ron shrugged and got up to get his things together to return to his desk in the magical law enforcement department.

"I'm not complaining," he said a bit defensively, "it was just an observation, that's all."

"Alright," Hermione said, a few briefs stowed under her arm, "well, I have a busy afternoon, so I should get going. See you at the Burrow tomorrow though?"

"Yeah, see you there," Ron said, as he sorted through his papers. When Hermione disappeared out of the room, Ron looked after her for a moment. He briefly considered an idea before dismissing it and returning to the task at hand.

* * *

Ginny finished a daylong quidditch practice around six, thoroughly exhausted and wanting nothing more than to devour a huge meal. Fortunately for her, Friday was the night that she and Hermione had set for date night. They weren't always able to make that their date night, but on this particular evening they had decided to go to a muggle restaurant in the heart of London. They figured it would be the best place to go for some privacy from the prying eyes of the newspapers and magazines that had started following the girls with increasing frequency.

After showering and donning a light, casual sundress and pulling her hair back into a ponytail, Ginny reached into a secret compartment in her locker. She took out the ring that Hermione had bought her at a muggle jeweler the day after her impromptu proposal. She slipped the ring on her finger and admired the sparkling diamond for a second.

She was suppose to leave the ring on their nightstand, out of view from the world, but after Hermione left for work, Ginny couldn't help but sneak the ring into her pocket. She knew it was reckless, and if anyone found out before her mother, there would be hell to pay. Ginny just couldn't help it; the memory of that night made her unreasonably happy that she liked to have a reminder of it with her. It had been a spontaneous decision to propose at that moment, so Ginny remembered fumbling around for the right words, second guessing herself at every turn. Everything had ended up perfectly in spite of that, or perhaps because of that.

When Ginny arrived at the small, crowded restaurant, she was seated by a perky blond hostess and left to peruse the menu. For the first time in quite a long time, she had arrived before Hermione. It didn't necessarily worry her too much, since Hermione was known to get caught up in her work, and she had been through a particularly tough week at the office. A few minutes after Ginny took her seat, Hermione entered, looking quite stressed for a Friday night date.

"Hello there," Ginny said as she stood up to give Hermione a quick peck on the lips, "How was work?"

"Fine," Hermione said distractedly as she sat down and cast a look in the direction of the door, which had just opened, "it was lovely."

"Really?" Ginny asked, puzzled by Hermione's response. She had assumed that Hermione's demeanor was somehow related to work, and had rarely heard her use the word 'lovely' when describing her current assignment.

"Yes, really," Hermione said, sounding a bit annoyed as she suddenly put her hand over Ginny's which was resting on the table, as if to hold it.

"Alright," Ginny said, perplexed by Hermione's odd behavior, "is everything okay though? You seem a little out of sorts."

Hermione glanced sideways in the direction of a small table where a single man had just taken a seat before answering.

"I was followed here from the ministry," Hermione said, "you see that man sitting a few tables over? He's been tailing me for awhile now. That's why I was late. I tried to lose him. I took the most roundabout way to get here and he stayed with me."

"Bastard," Ginny muttered angrily, "are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Hermione said sounding as though she were on the verge of tears, while being careful to make sure her mannerisms were as neutral as possible, "I'm just so fucking sick of these reporters."

"I know, they shouldn't even be following us around muggles," Ginny said, making a motion to put her hand on Hermione's cheek, though Hermione would not release the hand, "what's wrong now?"

"You need to take that ring off," Hermione said, "he almost saw it when he walked right behind you. I don't want your family finding out about our engagement in some gossip magazine that will probably get the story wrong."

Ginny nodded and put her hand back on the table. As she went to put the napkin in her lap, she slipped the ring off under the table and put it in the small purse that she carried with her more for show than anything else.

"Let's not let this ruin our good time," Ginny said as she took up the menu and smiled across the table. As much as Ginny wanted to scowl and be in a foul mood over the invasion of privacy, she was determined to not let it get to her. "I hear that they have great food here and I'm famished."

Hermione nodded looked at a menu, though it was more a scowling than anything else. Ginny noticed that her body seemed as tense as before despite her agreement that they should try to ignore the man, who was paying an inordinate amount of attention to them.

"Now Hermione," Ginny said jokingly, "I like angry sex as much as the next person, but I think you actually have to be angry at _me_ for it to work properly. Otherwise you'll be seeing that balding, slightly overweight man, and that's definitely going to be a mood killer."

Hermione smirked reluctantly at Ginny and wrinkled her nose at the thought of such a scenario.

"That might put me off sex forever," Hermione said, then added as she leaned in closer to Ginny, "does all of this sex talk mean that I'll be getting some tonight?"

"Only if you play your cards right," Ginny said, as she took a sip of the water the waiter had just brought them.

"Do I ever play my cards wrong?" Hermione retorted, cocking an eyebrow flirtatiously. Though Ginny could only see Hermione's eyes over the menu, they seemed to have regained their usual passionate sparkle.

"No, I don't think you do," Ginny responded. After pretending to think back, she shook her head and added, "no, definitely not."

The pair continued their dinner in easy conversation, laughing and talking as they usually did on their dates. If something was going to ruin their date nights, it certainly had to be more than the presence of any middle aged man.

**A/N-I forgot to mention it, but I have a poll up in my profile about a possible future project. I'd appreciate your vote if you get a chance to check it out.**

**Optional question: What do you think of the media's obsessive coverage of celebrities (the kind of coverage we see in this chapter)?**

**Reviews are like sunshine in my exceptionally rainy and cloudy summer. Keep the sunshine coming! :o)**


	3. Acting Normally

**A/N-I know this story seems to be a bit fluffy and lacking in the conflict department so far, but I ask that you stay with me here. Also, sorry the update was slower this time; I just got a five day a week job and it's really draining, so I have less time for writing. Oh well, here's chapter 3...**

"Do we act normally?" Hermione asked, seemingly out of the blue as she pulled on a pair of jeans the next day.

Ginny propped herself up in bed where she had been laying as she watched Hermione get dressed for the eventful Saturday afternoon that they had in store at the Burrow.

"What do you mean? Normal compared to what?" Ginny asked.

"I mean," Hermione said, as she pulled a blue fitted shirt over her head, "do we act normal for people who have been together for years?"

"I think we have a little more sex than most at our stage," Ginny said. When Hermione cast her a dirty look, she continued more seriously, "I dunno, I guess we act pretty normal. Why are you asking?"

"Ron," Hermione said from the bathroom connected to the bedroom as she tried to tame her hair without much success, "he said we've been acting unusual lately, more lovey than usual. Apparently I'm kinder since the engagement as well. He didn't say the engagement part, but that was the main idea."

Ginny rolled out of bed for the first time that morning and stood leaning in the doorway as she watched Hermione getting ready. Ginny was clad in a matching black bra and panties , freckles dotting her Quidditch toned stomach and legs as she lingered in the doorway waiting for Hermione to finish her thought. Hermione didn't seem to have anymore to say, but Ginny knew better than to assume such things.

"I think we ought to tell your family today at the party," Hermione said a moment later, without taking her eyes of the mirror, "if Ron sees a difference in how we're acting, your mother will know before we even speak. Besides, last night was really too close. We can only keep something like this secret for so long."

"Alright," Ginny said simply, without moving from her spot in the doorway, "I'll wear the ring today."

Hermione clearly hadn't been expecting Ginny to agree so readily, as she stopped playing with her hair and looked at Ginny for the first time. "Really? Just like that?"

"Yes, just like that," Ginny said as she moved to stand behind Hermione, " I want to marry you, and I don't want that to be a secret. We'll tell everyone at the Burrow today."

Hermione twirled around and put her hands on Ginny's neck, truly taking in the redhead for the first time in their conversation. She smiled and kissed Ginny before speaking. "That would be fantastic," she said. After indulging in another lingering glance at Ginny's scantily clad body, she added, "as much as I'm enjoying the view, you really should start getting dressed if you want us to get there on time."

"Alright," Ginny said, after kissing Hermione on the cheek, though she seemed in no hurry to move away from Hermione, who was now leaning against the sink.

Hermione looked Ginny up and down, aware of the fact that the other woman was trying to distract her, and having more than a little success in her endeavor. She allowed herself one long, deep kiss before pulling away and catching her breath.

"Go on now," Hermione said, as she made a conscious effort to look only at Ginny's face, then added before she changed her mind, "get dressed before we're late for the Burrow."

Before she turned around to return to the bedroom, Ginny smiled knowingly, too knowingly for Hermione's taste. She knew that she had gotten to Hermione, that her body still had a way of distracting Hermione like nothing else. Hermione liked having someone that still made her feel that way, but did not so much appreciate the fact that it was absolutely out of her control.

After regaining her composure, Hermione returned to the bedroom where she found Ginny rummaging through her closet for something suitable to wear. It was hard to know what to wear, since it was hard to know what the get-together was celebrating. There were more family gatherings than special occasions in the Weasley family, so a few parties tended to be more Mrs. Weasley's excuse to see the whole family together than anything else. Ginny finally settled on a pair of jeans and a fitted tshirt with the Harpies logo on it.

After pulling on her chosen outfit, she went to the bathroom to calm her hair. Though Ginny's hair was silky smooth in comparison to Hermione's, it did have a mind of its own at times, and she wanted to look presentable, mostly to keep her mother happy. As usual, Ginny decided on pulling her hair back into a pony tail before returning to the bedroom where Hermione was sitting on the bed waiting.

"Am I acceptable?" Ginny asked as she spun around to allow Hermione to inspect.

"Very acceptable," Hermione said as she got up and handed Ginny her engagement ring after she had slipped on her own ring, "you know, I was just thinking, and I think you're underestimating how they're going to react to this news."

"I think you worry too much," Ginny said as she stepped closer and rubbed Hermione's bare arm, "I think they'll all be alright with it. "

Hermione sighed and licked her lips, as she often did when she was pondering something. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly so hesitant to make this announcement. She wanted to tell everyone more than anything, but as Ginny had been preparing for the party, Hermione became increasingly nervous and weary of announcing the engagement to the Weasleys and Harry. She couldn't pinpoint what it was that made her suddenly feel that way, but she just did not have a good feeling about the impending announcement. She realized that she did worry quite a bit, and decided that it was simply the worrier in her getting the best of her.

When Hermione and Ginny arrived at the Burrow, the entire family had already arrived and dispersed throughout the property. Victoire was at the stage of boundless energy, so she was running around the backyard trying to teach her younger cousins how to play tag. Most of the adults were lulling about on the back patio with a glass of firewhisky or butterbeer. Only Mrs. Weasley was in the kitchen to prepare a last minute appetizer when they arrived.

As soon as Mrs. Weasley saw the pair, she made a beeline for her daughter, and looked as though she was ready to burst with excitement.

"You're engaged, aren't you?" she said before Ginny could even manage to open her mouth.

"Um, er, yes we are," Ginny said, as she tried to catch her breath after the uncomfortable floo trip, "we're engaged. How'd you know?"

"Oh, dear, I can just tell these things," Mrs. Weasley said as she waved off the question, the added, "let me see your rings. You do have rings?"

Ginny found herself smiling broadly as she held out her hand for her mother to examine. She realized that it was the first time she got to show off the ring and it felt great. She gestured for Hermione to show her ring too, and Hermione followed the suggestion with a similarly gleeful expression.

"Oh, tell me all about it," Mrs. Weasley said eagerly as she sat down at the kitchen table, "when did it happen? Who asked first?"

When Hermione and Ginny had finished telling Mrs. Weasley all of the particulars of the proposal, she still looked at them as if she was anticipating more information.

"What happened after?" she asked when it became apparent that neither was going to add anything more to their story.

"After what?" Hermione asked. She knew the answer to her question, but was trying to buy time to think of how she could possibly answer without Mrs. Weasley sensing that they were holding back.

"After Ginny proposed of course," Mrs. Weasley said with another dismissive wave of the hand.

Hermione started to open her mouth without any clue as to what she might say to the elder Weasley before Ginny responded.

"We ate out," Ginny said she made her way the cabinet to pull down a bottle of firewhisky and a few glasses so that her back was to her mother. Hermione followed Ginny's lead and busied herself pouring a glass of firewhisky so that Mrs. Weasley wouldn't see that she was blushing furiously.

"Where'd you go?" Mrs. Weasley asked, completely unaware of Ginny's double entendre. Though she was incredibly perceptive, Molly Weasley tended to be a bit naïve and innocent when it came to certain things.

"A very nice place. It was definitely fine dining," Ginny said as she took as sip of the firewhisky to keep from laughing at Hermione's mortified expression, which was still hidden from Mrs. Weasley's view.

Ginny also quite enjoyed that she'd so far managed to pull one over on her mother, who normally caught on to the tricks of her children very quickly.

"Oh that sounds like it must have been a good meal," Mrs. Weasley responded.

"Fantastic," Ginny said, the after another long sip of fireshisky added, "it was a fantastic four course meal. Wouldn't you say Hermione?"

Hermione, who had just taken a sip of her own, nearly choked on her drink, and had to take a minute to regain her composure.

"Sorry, I'm not use to such strong firewhisky. It was lovely," Hermione said, wishing she could cast a dirty look at Ginny without Mrs. Weasley noticing, "I think we should go see everyone else now."

"Oh, yes, of course. Spread the good news," Mrs. Weasley said as she sprung up to continue her hostessing duties.

When the pair was safely outside the kitchen and in the empty living room that led out to the backyard, Hermione finally dared cast one of her trademark dirty looks in Ginny's direction. Ginny merely smiled to herself, too accustomed to years of seeing the glare to be all that affected by it any more.

"You just can't help yourself, can you?" Hermione muttered, though a reluctant smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"No, I can't," Ginny said as she took Hermione's hand to lead her to the backyard, "you ought to know that. Now let's go see everyone and spread the news. I wouldn't want to disobey my mother."

**A/N-Hmm, I wonder how the rest of the gang will react. What do you all think will happen?**

**Reviews are my inspiration. They are like ink in my pen; please don't let my pen run dry. :o)**


	4. Wearing Rings

**A/N-Well, here we go now...**

**Disclaimer: Harry Potter doesn't belong to me. You knew that already though, didn't you?**

When the pair reached the backyard, all of the usual guests were present. All of the Weasley children and their significant other had arrived and their children were either running about or on their mother's hip. The one notable guest was Lavender Brown, whose on again off again relationship with Ron was most definitely on again. She had become a bit more tolerable since they had left school, but Hermione still found her rather annoying, and Ginny felt the same way to a lesser degree.

Katie was the first person to greet Hermione and Ginny, as she was by the doorway helping set out appetizers for Mrs. Weasley on a sizeable wooden table set up especially for this occasion. She hugged both girls almost as tightly and enthusiastically as Mrs. Weasley.

"I feel as though I haven't seen you in ages," Katie said as she absently ran a finger around the rim of the half full whiskey glass in her hand, "I'm so sorry I couldn't make it to dinner the other night. I got tied up at work."

"Don't even think twice about it," Hermione said after another small sip of firewhisky. After swallowing she added, "So how has married life been treating you?"

"Oh, you know, it's still life," she said with a small chuckle, "it's been great. So far, so good."

Ginny shifted her weight nervously from one foot to the other during the exchange as she began to wonder how exactly it was that one went about announcing something like an engagement. She had certainly witnessed most of her brothers make similar announcements. This just felt so different, and Ginny was suddenly overwhelmed by the magnitude and possible repercussions of her and Hermione's announcement. To make matters worse, she realized that she and Hermione hadn't even discussed how they would go about things. As Ginny fidgeted nervously at the bottom of her shirt, the diamond ring glistened in the bright summer sun, catching Katie's eye.

"Wait, Ginny, are you wearing a ring?" Katie asked, taking up Ginny's hand and looking at it.

Ginny nodded and smiled, half grateful, half terrified at having Katie bring up the topic of their announcement.

"We're engaged," Hermione said, as though she had been bursting to say it. She put her hand out to allow Katie to inspect her ring as well.

"Wow! I'm so happy for you both," Katie said as she pulled Ginny, then Hermione into a hug, "so when did all of this happen, and why didn't I find out before now?"

"Right after your wedding," Ginny chimed in, glad to have such a positive reaction so far from both her mother and good friend.

"I'm assuming Harry knows then?" Katie asked, "I don't know why he wouldn't think to tell me something like this."

Hermione proceeded to explain their reasoning for keeping the engagement secret, and the very vague plan that they had made with regards to telling the party that day. As Hermione related this information to Katie, she realized the same thing that Ginny had moments before; they didn't have a plan. While Ginny could improvise brilliantly and take things as they came, Hermione much preferred having something at least resembling a plan. Though she was struck with another bout of anxiety similar to the one before arriving, Hermione grinned broadly as she finished her explanation.

"Well, you ought to tell Harry, now don't you?" Katie said, and without waiting for a response, she gestured over to Harry, who was busy loading a plate with one of Mrs. Weasley's signature dishes at the nearby table, "Harry, come here, come see Hermione and Ginny."

Harry immediately followed his wife's directions and was by her side without much delay. He greeted both Hermione and Ginny warmly, giving each a hug. It was a habit he had picked after years of being in the Weasley family, Hermione realized, since he wasn't much of a hugger in their years at Hogwarts.

"So how've you two been?" he asked after stepping back from the pair and putting his hands casually in his pockets.

"I've been well," Hermione said brightly, "of course I have a very difficult case assignment right now, but you know me, I'm always up for the challenge."

"Yeah, same here," Ginny added, half hoping that neither Hermione nor Katie would tell Harry about the engagement. Second only to Ron, Harry was the one that Ginny worried most about telling, in part because of his less than positive reaction to their coming out. "I mean, right now we're just in the middle of a really tough part of our schedule. I think if we can win against United and the Arrows, we should be set for the division though."

"Harry knows all that already," Katie said, clearly making a concerted effort not to announce the engagement for Hermione and Ginny. So much for derailing Harry and Katie by talking about their shared passion for Quidditch; Ginny usually found it a good way to get herself a little more time. "Tell him what you just told me."

"Oh, yes, we got engaged," Hermione said as though it was an afterthought. That was as far from the truth as one could get. Hermione couldn't think of anything else at the moment. She bounced unpredictably between panic, excitement and a mixture of the two at the thought of the entire party focused on their news and no plan on how to deal with all of that attention.

"Wait, hold on a moment," Harry said after pausing for a moment to comprehend what he had just heard , "engaged? You mean engaged to be married?"

"Yes, in what other way would we be engaged, Harry?" Ginny asked, trying not to sound as defensive as she wanted to be. His reaction was the first one that had not been 100% and immediately positive.

"I suppose that would be your only meaning," Harry said uncomfortably, realizing how he must have come across. He then added to unintentionally make matters worse, "it's just you two, I mean, you two being _married_? "

Before either woman, or a slightly perturbed looking Katie, could respond, Lavender bounced over to their small gathering of people, as she had been doing to the rest of the party. She was clearly under the influence of at least a few glasses of firewhisky, and had a half empty one in her hand. Lavender leaned unsteadily, putting her hand on Katie's shoulder, though the latter seemed none too pleased by the prospect.

"What is everyone talking about over here?" Lavender said, then added with a giggle,"it appears to be quite serious Gryffindor business, and where is my Ronnie if this is serious Gryffindor business?"

"Probably hiding," Ginny muttered, but Lavender didn't hear her remark because she was distracted by her ritualistic survey of everyone's outfit choice. Usually Lavender attempted to be much less obvious, but her subtlety had gone the way of her sobriety. The blonde stopped short when she reached Ginny's hand and grabbed it so abruptly that Ginny was startled even though she knew she was being looked over.

"You're wearing jewelry," Lavender said as though she were a teacher praising a student, then turned her attention to Hermione's hand, where she made a similar observation. It took her liquor addled mind a moment to put two and two together, at which point she dropped both hands and stepped back. One of the most painfully awkward moments in Hermione's near photographic memory stretched on for what seemed like an eternity, though it was no more than a few seconds.

"So," Lavender finally said, with a coolness to her voice that Ginny thought was edging dangerously close to bitchy, "are you, well, you know going to be _joined_?"

Hermione cringed inwardly at the way that Lavender put emphasis on the last word, as though it were something she didn't want to think, let alone say. In the past, Lavender had already made clear that she was uncomfortable with the thought of Ginny and Hermione being together. The reaction they got wasn't something unexpected, nor was it something that Hermione and Ginny should have given much thought to. It was unsettling though, especially since all wasn't resolved with Harry.

"You know what," Katie said with a similar bitchy coolness, as she shrugged Lavender's hand off her shoulder, "you ought to go eat something. Maybe it'll sober you up."

Lavender cast a nasty glance at Katie before putting her cup down emphatically and casting an icy glance in Hermione and Ginny's direction.

"First I have to find my boyfriend," she said, an unpleasant smile on her lips, "he can't be kept in the dark with this _wonderful_ news of yours."

With that, Lavender turned on her heels and stormed off to break the news to Ron in what Hermione knew would be the worst possible way.

**A/N-Ah, and the drama begins...**

**I'd be interested in hearing how people respond here: What you think of Harry's reaction and/or the character of Lavander?**

**I know it's shorter than the first few chapters, but adding the next scene I intend to write would have made it too long. Besides, a mini-cliffhanger is good once in awhile, right? :)**

**Reviews, not diamonds, are this girl's best friend. Keep 'em coming! :)**


	5. Just a Phase

**A/N-So, I know the updates are a little slower than for Demonstrations. As I mentioned before, I'm working quite a bit so I have less time than last summer, when I was unemployed. I'm really sorry for the delays. Thanks, and enjoy a little quality time with Hermione and Ron...**

**Disclaimer: I'm not JK Rowling, nor do I own Harry Potter. If I were, I'd be filthy rich, and the epilogue of Deathly Hallows would have turned out a little differently. :)**

After the party, as Hermione pondered the reactions she and Ginny had received to their news, she realized that there had been very few surprises in how each person received the news. Mrs. Weasley and Katie were as excited and supportive as always. Harry had been taken aback at first, but later warmed up to the idea, in part due to Katie's prodding. The older Weasley brothers seemed almost relieved at the news of their younger sister settling down with someone respectable and, frankly, less threatening than someone like Oliver Wood. Lavender's reaction, though undesireable, was similar to her reaction to finding out that they were a couple, so there wasn't too much of a surprise there.

Then there was Ron.

He wasn't against seeing two women in a romantic relationship; that much was abundantly clear. As a matter of fact, he never really saw his sister as a woman or girl. She was just his sister, a non-sexual entity. Hermione noticed it time and time again; Ron never got completely use to his sister dating anyone, let alone someone that he was close to. She'd seen it with Harry; he grudgingly accepted Ginny and Harry's relationship, but confided in Hermione that it still made him uncomfortable. The fact that she was now with not only a friend, but a friend he had also dated made matters infinitely more difficult for Ron. He wasn't what one would call a ladies' man, so when Ginny, his little sister, could please an ex more than he could, it was a blow to his fragile ego and self -esteem. He was happy for his friend and sister, or at least he tried to be. The relationship was just a difficult pill to swallow at times.

With all of those factors in play, Ron's reaction was the least surprising of them all.

"What the fuck is this about some kind of engagement?" Ron asked after he had pulled Hermione into the empty study. If he was going to make such a big deal of it, Hermione at least appreciated that he had the decency to do it somewhere that he would make less of a scene.

"I suppose you've spoken to your peach of a girlfriend then," Hermione said, then added simply, as though it were some kind of challenge, "she's right. Ginny and I are engaged to be married, and we're both thrilled about it."

"Why, though?" Ron asked. The way that he said it made him sound almost desperate and needy. If Hermione weren't so annoyed by his reaction, she might have felt a little bit of sympathy for him.

"That is what people generally do when they love each other," Hermione said, as though she were explaining something he wouldn't understand, "at some point in the relationship they decide that they intend to make a lifelong commitment, at which point they get engaged. It is suppose to be a very happy occasion for both people."

Ron pursed his lips and sighed emphatically, a gesture of frustration that gave him a stronger resemblance to Ginny.

"I know why people get engaged," he said impatiently, as he began pacing,"but why you and Ginny? I mean, it's just, I don't know."

"No, what," Hermione said, jumping at the sign that he might have held something back, "you were going to say something."

"I thought it was a phase," he said after a moment's hesitation, making sure to avoid Hermione's penetrating gaze which was sure to get even more unpleasant at his words.

"A _four year_ phase, Ron?" Hermione spat, "you do realize that my phase has lasted longer than any continuous relationship that you've ever had?"

Ron nearly winced again. Hermione had hit him where she knew that it hurt, probably more than anything else. He was now the only Weasley child not married or engaged to be married, and that was weighing on him on top of the rest of the factors involved in his reaction to Hermione and Ginny's engagement.

"Not for you, of course," Ron backtracked, "I've never doubted that you were a lesbian. At least not since, you know, you snogged Ginny out in the kitchen. Really, I mean, you're as gay as they come. No question about it."

Hermione didn't say anything and just stared at Ron for a moment. A small part of her was enjoying making him squirm, but she was mostly just annoyed at his incredible capacity for talking himself into a corner.

"If I'm a raging lesbian, then how is it that my dating Ginny is a phase?" Hermione asked.

Ron rubbed the back of his head and dropped his hand down by his side, clearly reluctant to go down the road that he was about to go down. It wasn't that he cared about avoiding conflict; he and Hermione argued on a regular basis. He just had a hard time articulating what he intended to say without fear of getting some very precious parts of his anatomy hexed off. While his brothers may have found Hermione a less threatening partner for Ginny, Ron knew better. Hermione could be a force to be reckoned with, moreso than most wizards he knew.

"I really thought it would just be a phase for Ginny because, quite frankly, her attention doesn't stay on one thing for all that long. Especially when she has an alternative that she's shown interest in. I mean, as far as I know, she's only ever been with you for girls, and she's dated a lot of men," Ron explained.

Hermione did not react explosively, as Ron feared she might. As a matter of fact, she hardly reacted at all. Her gaze, though still penetrating, softened a bit and seemed almost sad. That exact issue had been one of the few sources of tension in her relationship with Ginny. Though there was no doubt that Ginny loved and was commited to her, Hermione was occasionally bothered by Ginny's flightiness and worried that she might lose interest at any moment. It was an irrational fear, Hermione realized, and every time it came up Ginny, got frustrated that Hermione didn't trust her. So when Ron made reference to what was a sensitive issue, Hermione didn't know how to react.

Before she could say anything, Ginny stuck her head in the doorway. When she caught sight of Hermione and Ron's posture, she knew that they must be discussing the engagement.

"Is everything alright in here?" Ginny asked, looking pointedly at Ron.

Hermione whirled around, noticing Ginny's presence in the room for the first time. She struggled with whether or not to involve Ginny in the conversation before deciding against it.

"No, everything's just fine, love," Hermione said, flashing Ginny a quick smile, "I'll be right out."

Ginny looked from Ron to Hermione for a moment. It was clear that everything wasn't fine, and that Hermione might at any moment either scream at or hex Ron. Hermione, however was also making it abundantly clear that she did not want Ginny to intervene. Ginny couldn't understand why that was; she would have to ask Hermione later. So, even though she didn't buy Hermione's smile for one moment, Ginny decided to play along. She nodded and quickly excused herself from the room, claiming that she wanted to grab some treacle tart before Harry devoured it all, which wasn't really a lie.

When Ginny was out of the room, Hermione turned quickly to Ron again, who appeared relieved that Ginny hadn't been involved in the conversation. That relief, however, was short lived.

"I didn't do that for you," Hermione said coolly, "now you have that ridiculous phase idea out of your head, correct?"

Ron nodded, mostly because it didn't seem like he had much of a choice.

"And you don't intend to ever bring it up in front of your sister, am I also correct in that assumption?" Hermione asked, to which Ron again agreed. "Good, because I don't see Ginny taking kindly to that kind of theory."

"Hermione, you're honestly making a big deal out of something that wasn't that big a deal," Ron said, unnerved by the threatening undertones in Hermione's voice, "I was just being honest."

With that, Hermione came as close as she had all day to losing her cool, but instead responded calmly, moreso than in any of her previous interactions.

"Maybe so," she said, "but I was certainly hoping to have more supportive friends. When you tell a friend, someone you've nearly died for, that you're engaged, they should be excited, or at least pretend to be. It shouldn't be as though I have to convince you to be happy for me."

Hermione's restained response, which sounded almost like a plea, made Ron feel worse than if she had berated him. He could argue and struggle against a combative, angry Hermione, but not this disappointed Hermione. Ron let her down, he knew that. He honestly wanted to be thrilled and completely supportive of her and Ginny. He had tried and tried, but could not get use to the idea of Ginny dating, let alone dating women. He convinced himself that they wouldn't stay together, despite the increasingly obvious signs that they had fallen madly in love.

"I'll try to, um, do better," Ron said, then added in his own defense, "it's not easy, you have to understand that. It's not as though I can just get rid of how I feel."

Hermione sighed gave Ron a half smile. While it was not the kind of reaction that she would have liked, it was all that she could hope for. She laughed ruefully before responding to him.

"I know," she said, a hint of exhaustion and disappointment in her voice, "that's probably why I feel the way I do right now."

"What way, how do you feel?" Ron demanded. He hated it when she got purposely cryptic on him, and she knew that.

"Nothing, forget about it," Hermione said, as though she was losing interest in the conversation, "I think I'll go get some dessert now."

Before Ron could respond, Hermione turned around and left the study for the backyard.

**A/N-So, there you have it, Ron's reaction. I know there wasn't much Ginny, but I'll be getting more into Ginny's perspective later in the story.**

**What does everyone think of Ron's reaction? Was it what you expected?**

**Reviews are lovely. Yeah, I have no clever analogy this time, just a humble request for some feedback in the form of a review. :o)**


	6. Curiosity

**A/N-So, so sorry for the long wait, but I do have a good excuse. My computer's hard drive refused to work, and it took about two weeks to fix. I got almost everything back, but that was two weeks that I had extremely limited computer access. Thanks for the patience, I'll try to update more quickly next time! :)**

**Disclaimer:I'm not JK Rowling. I'm sure you already knew that though, since there is no universe in which the talented Ms. Rowling would write what you're about to read. **

Ginny was a naturally curious person.

It was just her part of personality, and always had been something that both got her into trouble and led her to her current, very lucrative career. Because of her curious disposition, it came as no surprise to Ginny that she was curious about whatever it was that Ron and Hermione had been deep in discussion over. She so badly wanted Hermione to invite her into the conversation, if for no other reason than to find out what precisely was going on. She, of course, could develop a general idea, but wondered what precisely the exchange had consisted of.

The thing that surprised Ginny more than her own curiosity was Hermione's unwillingness to satisfy that curiosity. When she did catch up with Hermione, the brunette was surprisingly evasive and vague.

"Hey, love," Ginny said when she caught sight of Hermione making her way in that general direction, "how'd things go with my brother?"

"Fine, it went well," Hermione said as she filled her plate with dessert. She chose the ones Ginny would have predicted she would pick; unless you knew the pair, it would be difficult to believe how well they knew each other. Hermione then turned to Ginny and held out a tasty looking treat, "Truffle?"

"No, thanks," Ginny said, intent on refocusing Hermione's attention, "well, what did he say? I suppose he asked about the engagement. How did he react?"

"As one would expect," Hermione said breezily.

"Hermione," Ginny said, in an attempt to sound reasonable and patient even though Hermione was testing that patience with her very deliberate attempt to avoid the topic, "it can't be both. It can't have gone that well if he reacted as expected. Pick one."

Hermione looked straight at Ginny for the first time since they had started speaking. It was clear to Ginny that all of the questions were testing Hermione's patience as well. Ginny didn't worry too much about that though. If she did not want to be interrogated, Hermione ought to have given straight answers in the first place.

"I suppose I should have clarified," she said coolly, "Ron reacted as any big brother would to news of his sister's engagement. He had concerns that any older brother might have had, nothing earth shattering. I handled myself just fine. Does that satisfy your curiosity?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Ginny said, since Hermione's tone didn't give her much of an option.

Hermione was done discussing Ron, and Ginny wouldn't be receiving any more information on that front. Ginny could, of course, ask Ron himself how he felt, but she got the feeling that Ron would redirect her back to Hermione. Though protective of and close to Ginny, Ron tended to be quite uncomfortable discussing either of their personal lives.

That kind of emotional issue he reserved for discussion among the Golden Trio, if with anyone. It was maddening at times that, no matter how close she got to each of them individually, Ginny felt as though she was missing out on some life changing bond forged on their mysterious horcrux trip.

So Ginny resolved herself to gathering information bit by bit as the pair decided to dole it out. Maybe it was just as boring a conversation as Hermione implied, because there was little to indicate otherwise in the conversations and exchanges over the next few weeks. After awhile, Ginny's curiosity waned and things returned to normal for the pair.

The more precise characterization might have been that things were as normal as things can be when you are not only a super couple, but the wizarding world's first gay or lesbian super couple. By the time late July rolled around most, if not all, gossip magazines and newspapers were at least speculating about their upcoming nuptials, nuptials that niether had even officially confirmed.

Because of this, Hermione was not surprised when she saw Ginny casually toss a copy _Witch Weekly _on the table and caught sight of her own smiling and waving face alongside Ginny's. That particular article speculated on a number of different possible locations for the ceremony. Hermione, unable to resist reading something tossed in front of her, skimmed the article with mild interest before putting it aside.

"They have some good ideas, love," she said, as she rose from the kitchen chair to drape her arms around Ginny's neck as the red head leaned against the counter and sipped her hot cup of coffee. "I think they've done more planning for this wedding than we have."

"What do you propose we do about that then?" Ginny asked as she put aside her coffee cup.

Hermione shrugged in response. The only thing they had decided for sure was that they wanted a small ceremony, a decision that Mrs. Weasley was battling them on, gradually increasing the tentative guest list by a few people each time they discussed planning. Mrs. Weasley's incessant prodding on certain details of the wedding in those meetings was one of the reasons they'd had so few wedding planning sessions.

Hermione's mind quickly shifted away from invitations and towards other, more interesting things when Ginny pulled her a little closer and gave her a lingering kiss. Though she had developed some will power when it came to Ginny, it was still rather shaky when she pulled away.

"I have some ideas," Ginny said mischievously.

"I know you do," Hermione said with a flirtatious smile of her own, "but how precisely would your idea help us in planning the wedding?"

Ginny pretended to ponder the question for a moment before responding. It was something she did to build suspense and anticipation, Hermione noticed, and Hermione had to admit that she was very good at creating that effect. While Hermione had to make an effort to be flirty and seductive, Ginny seemed to have an innate understanding of such things. Hermione was partly jealous that Ginny had out done her in something, but at that moment she was more grateful that she could be benefactor of this skill set of Ginny's.

"Well, it could certainly help to calm our wedding planning nerves," Ginny said, "it could be very relaxing, you know. Besides, we haven't pursued my idea in quite some time now."

Hermione smirked, finding it difficult to come up with a sound argument against Ginny's suggestion.

She had no way of knowing it, but Hermione had an equally powerfully, if different effect upon Ginny. Hermione's air of confidence in everything she said had a magnetic effect on Ginny. Ginny wanted to match that self assuredness, and, to a certain extent, rattle Hermione, break her out of the comfort zone that Hermione had so carefully constructed. Without another word, Ginny shifted so that Hermione was leaning against the counter and kissed the brunette as though it were simultaneously the first and last time that she would taste Hermione's lips.

They remained leaning against the counter kissing for awhile, kisses more intimate and arousing than sex in any of Ginny's previous relationships with men. Hermione then made the next move, leading Ginny slowly to the sofa, where she took control of the situation, pushing Ginny onto her back. She disrobed both herself and Ginny with a flick of the wand before kissing the redhead even more deeply.

This whole chain of events elicited an involuntary moan from Ginny as she more than willingly allowed Hermione's hands and mouth to roam with increasing boldness. The few weeks that had passed since their last encounter had done much to increase both Ginny's passion, and to be perfectly honest, had lowered her resistance to Hermione's advances. When Hermione's tongue reached that spot between Ginny legs where her body said there ought to be attention, it was almost too much to take.

"Christ, Hermione," Ginny said, just barely resisting the urge to grab a handful of Hermione's plentiful head of hair, "how'd you get so fucking good at this?"

"Practice, m'love, practice. We've had lots of it," Hermione said with a wicked grin before continuing her work.

After another few minutes of what was extremely pleasureable work for Hermione, she achieved her goal. When Hermione looked up, Ginny gave her a relaxed, almost dreamy smile. Hermione kissed Ginny and rested on the redhead's shoulder, absently running her fingers over the pale, freckled skin on Ginny's stomach.

"That was quite lovely," Ginny finally said after fully regaining her senses, following what was a very intense climax, "I ought to return the favor now, don't you think?"

Hermione's eyes twinkled as she sat up so that she was now facing Ginny.

"If you insist," she said, more than eager to be repaid, though she suspected it would not take much in her current state.

"I insist," Ginny said before going enthusiastic to work paying her debt.

She and Hermione were so engaged and enthusiastic that neither of them saw or heard a small white stationary envelope slide through the mail slot. It looked as any other casual correspondence might look, with the exception the very formal, tidy writing. It identified the return address as that of none other than Dr. Jean Ann Granger.

**A/N-Ooh whatever could Mrs. Granger be writing to Hermione about? Any thoughts on that front, or regarding the chapter in general?**

**Reviews are the only payment that a fanfic author recieves. Please make me rich! Even a word or two will help. :)**


	7. A Friend

A/N-So, I've cut back on time that it took to post this chapter (less that two weeks, yay!). Let's see what Mrs. Granger has to say...

Niether Hermione nor Ginny noticed the note from Hermione's mother at any point for the rest of the day. They weren't accustomed to receiving mail the muggle way, since the only muggles that either of them knew were Hermione's parents, and they rarely wrote. So the letter sat in the doorway for the rest of the night until the next morning when, as Hermione shuffled sleepily past the door to eat breakfast, the envelope caught her eye. Recognizing the handwriting immediately, she picked it up quickly and read it. It consisted of only a few words:

Hermione,

Come see me immediately.

Love,

Your Mother

At seeing the very brief note, Hermione's mind began to fill with all sorts of worst case scenarios. Her mother did not like writing; she found visiting a much more efficient means of communicating information. Only on a few occasions had she written Hermione at Hogwarts, and those times had been to inform Hermione of very important information. The last time she receive such a short, urgent note from Mrs. Granger, it had been years ago and she later found out that it was because her grandfather, her last living grandparent, had passed away.

What if something had happened to her father? Hermione didn't think she could stand it if that was true. She had always felt much closer to her father than her mother; he had been great to comfort to her in the brief time she returned home after the war. Even though he didn't know the extent of Hermione's trials, he just held her and let her cry when she needed it. Mrs. Granger didn't have the capacity to do that. She was just too put together to understand any kind of vulnerability.

When that thought crossed her mind, Hermione immediately returned to her room and began getting dressed as quickly as possible. As she pulled on the nearest pair of jeans she could find, Ginny woke up and squinted sleepily at Hermione.

"What's the rush?" Ginny said as she pulled the sheets more tightly around her shoulders, "it's way to early for you to be moving that much. Come back to bed."

"I can't," Hermione said without stopping to look at Ginny, "my mother just wrote, and I think it might be bad news."

"Did she say what was wrong?" Ginny asked, more alert than before.

"No, she didn't. That's what worries me," Hermione said, doing her best to remain composed, even as she became increasingly panicky.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Ginny asked as she sat up on the edge of the bed. Though Hermione had a habit of being something of a worrier, she held it together remarkably well, and Ginny rarely saw her so anxious.

"No," Hermione said then added as an afterthought as she kissed Ginny hastily, "thank you though. Love you. Hopefully I'll be back soon."

Hermione normally dissapperated to a small abandoned field near her family home when she went to visit her parents, primarily to avoid being seen apperating into what was not just a completely muggle neighborhood. She, however, was too worried about the possible bad news to care all that much about being seen on an early weekend morning. So she decided to just apparate right into her parents' backyard. It was private enough that the risk was fairly low, and she saved the ten precious minutes that she would have spent walking from the field.

Without much more thought, Hermione dissapperated from her living room after grabbing her purse, more out of habit than any real need for it. As soon as she appeared on the back patio of her childhood home, Hermione realized she had made a mistake. Her mother was sitting no more than a few feet away sipping tea and wearing a plush white robe over her pajamas. When she heard the faint pop and saw her daughter appear out of thin air, Mrs. Granger screamed out loud and jumped up, nearly spilling her cup of tea.

"Hermione, what the," Mrs. Granger said, pausing to catch her breath, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Well, you wanted me to come see you immediately," Hermione said. Though she understood her mother's surprise, she had been hoping for a warmer reception.

"I'm well aware of that," she said. Mrs. Granger hated surprises, especially when they pertained to her daughter's use of magic. That being the case, she was not in the slightest amused by Hermione literally popping in, especially so early in the morning when she had hoped to have a little bit of quiet time. "I would just like to know what the fuck you were thinking apparitioning, or whatever the hell it is you do right into my lap because you decided to respond to a note that I wrote two days ago."

"I just, I thought it was an emergency," Hermione said, faltering almost imperceptibly. Jean Granger swore very rarely, and when she did, it was advisable to duck and cover because things generally got pretty nasty once she got to that point. "Where's dad? He's not sick is he?"

"God, no," Mrs. Granger said as if she was mildly amused by the suggestion, "unless you count snoring a disease. He's upstairs sleeping."

Hermione sighed in relief at news that all was well on that front. Her father was alright, and her mother seemed to be in good health too. She still didn't understand the urgent note though. As though reading her daughter's mind, Mrs. Granger spoke again.

"Come inside," she said briskly, as she turned to go in the house and gestured for Hermione to follow suit.

When she got inside the house, Hermione sat down at the kitchen table, fully expecting her mother to do the same, but she was again mistaken. The elder Granger walked past the table and over to the kitchen counter by the sink where some seemingly meaningless papers sat scattered about. Mrs. Granger picked up a thin magazine, walked back over to the table and placed the paper in front of Hermione as though leveling some damning accusation.

Hermione was thoroughly confused by her mother's behavior until she looked down at the front page staring up at her. Her stomach dropped; Hermione was looking down at the cover of a little known conservative Wizarding magazine from shortly after news of the engagement entered the public domain.

The cover was not a flattering one. Both she and Ginny were rushing past the camera and appeared to be scowling while both rings were clearly visible, and the headline said something about the marriage being a publicity stunt. Hermione swallowed hard, and could not seem to find the courage to look up at her mother, let alone defend herself.

"Were you ever planning on telling me about this?" Mrs. Granger demanded, her arms crossed over her chest as if she were a teacher reprimanding a mischevious student.

Hermione pushed back a sudden desire to cry tears of pure frustration. Mrs. Granger was uneasy about her daughter being a lesbian as it was, and having her find out about the engagement in such away was the last thing that Hermione had been hoping for.

"Of course I was going to tell you," Hermione said, forcing herself to look up at her mother, whose posture had not softened in the least. It felt ridiculous, being well into her twenties and sitting at the kitchen table being berated. "The next time Ginny and I visited together, I was going to tell you and dad."

"You don't think that maybe this type of thing might call for a special visit. Your entire world knew about this before your own family," Mrs. Granger retorted.

Hermione was now starting to work up a little courage, enough to stand up and look her mother in the eye before responding a bit flippantly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't consider the possibility that you might come by the news in a non-muggle magazine with miniscule circulation numbers," Hermione shot back, then something dawned on her and she added, "Wait, how did you get this piece of garbage anyway?"

The question should have come to her immediately upon seeing the article, but seeing it in her mother's muggle kitchen came as something of a shock to the system. That being the case, she had not had all of her wits about her, though she was quickly recovering.

"How I came across the information is not even the point of this conversation, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said, thrown off by the sudden shift in power that Hermione had created. When Hermione said nothing and just stared stonily at her mother, Mrs. Granger relented, "If you must know I received it from one of your friends by owl, no more than a few days ago. She thought I ought to know what my daughter was up to."

"A _friend_?" Hermione said incredulously, "no, mum, no friend of mine would send this piece of shit to you. What was this person's name, this person who was so eager to inform you?"

Mrs. Granger sighed an exasperated sigh and turned to walk to the kitchen sink where she put her cup down with more than the necessary amount of force before responding to her daughter. She loved her daughter, but she could be infuriatingly stubborn and insistent.

"I'm not suppose to tell you what her name is. She said that she doesn't want you to be upset with her, but she wanted to do the right thing by telling me," Mrs. Granger finally admitted.

Hermione gaped at her mother for a moment, trying to figure out if the elder Granger recognized the flawed logic in what she had just said. Clearly perturbed by her daughter's general attitude, Mrs. Granger sighed again before speaking.

"What the hell, you're clearly already upset with me, I can't imagine telling you will make a difference," Mrs. Granger said. She took a slightly wrinkled note off the counter and gave it to Hermione to read.

The writing looked familiar, as if Hermione had seen it years ago, but couldn't place it. When she reached the end of the letter, Hermione's eyes locked on a very familiar signature, and she knew exactly who her good "friend" was.

Lavender Brown.

**A/N-Well, there it is. I'm a little bit unsure about the whole chapter, I'm just not sure why. Any thoughts?**

**Was this what you thought might happen after last chapter?**


	8. Not a Failure

**A/N- I know, I know, I'm being a horrible updater with this story. I've just lost all inspiration and I feel as though I've written myself into a corner. I rewrote this chapter a few times. I'm still not happy with it, but I realized I've kept you waiting for a month. At the end of last chapter, Hermione had just found out that Lavender told Mrs. Granger about the engagement. That being said, here's chapter 8...**

**I'm not JK Rowling. I'm thinking that's already pretty clearly established though.**

Hermione was furious. Her hands trembled as a sudden surge of adrenaline shot through her system. Lavander. She should have known from the moment Mrs. Granger mentioned that a 'friend' had sent that damn magazine. Lavander fucking Brown.

"Bitch," was all Hermione managed to mutter at seeing the note.

"What did you just call me?" Mrs. Granger asked incredulously.

"Not you," Hermione said, her frustration with her mother disappearing and transferring to Lavander Brown, "the girl who sent this note. She use to be my roommate at Hogwarts and she's a bitch. She is also unfortunately dating one of my best friends."

"Oh, I see," Mrs. Granger said, trying to take some of the edge off her voice, since Hermione had clearly made the same effort, "so it's true then, this engagement story?"

Hermione put the note down and slid it away as though it were a dish she would prefer not taste before smiling and responding. She decided to put her anger at Lavander aside for the time being and deal with her mother first. Even if being accosted by her mother at Lavander's prompting put her in a bad mood, thought of her engagement still put smile on Hermione's face.

"Yes," she said, "well, it's not a publicity stunt like this rag says. We are very in love, and do not in the least want or need any publicity."

Mrs. Granger felt torn between being happy at seeing her daughter satisfied and hesitation at hearing the news that her daughter was, it appeared, a lesbian for good. Jean Granger didn't consider herself homophobic. She just had very little exposure to the concept, both in her childhood, and in most of her adult life.

Mrs. Granger was uncomfortable around homosexuality, plain and simple. It was not to the point that she would stop loving or disown her daughter for having a lesbian relationship, but it wasn't something that she could accept without batting an eyelash, as her husband seemed to have done. Jean Granger was just getting use to the thought of her daughter having a lesbian relationship, and now this apparent permanence bothered her more than she cared to admit to herself or her daughter.

"Why though?" Mrs. Granger asked, in attempt to sound reasonable, "I mean, think about it Hermione. You don't get much benefit from the legal attatchment, if they even have those in your world. All you're really getting out of this is unwanted attention, from what you just said."

While Hermione didn't appreciate her mother's reaction in the slightest, it wasn't a surprise. She certainly wasn't wrong either, at least about all of the unwanted attention that she and Ginny were receiving. Instead of acknowledging that though, Hermione attacked the very obvious holes in her mother's statement.

"We are allowed to have a bonding ceremony with the full rights and benefits of anyone else. The magic involved is gender neutral," Hermione said. She continued to explain exactly what those right were and the benefits she and Ginny would receive as a married couple with the detail of a magical law professor. It got to the point that Mrs. Granger finally cut her off.

"I get the idea," Mrs. Granger said, "it's just a lot of unnecessary attention that you two are drawing to yourself."

"It's not about them," Hermione said, gesturing to the magazine, "This is suppose to be about us, me and Ginny. If I worried about getting my picture on the front page of a magazine, I would never leave my house. I'm not in the least worried about appearances at this point in my life. Life is not about appearances."

"Life is all about appearances," Mrs. Granger snapped, "I know that you don't like that, but it's true. Every second of every day someone is judging you. In your case in just happens to be public criticism."

Hermione had hoped that the civility would have lasted a little longer than it had, but knew that this point would come, because her mother was very much all about appearance. Hermione had been to an extent in her childhood as well, but quickly shed that attitude out of necessity when she became the center of attention at Hogwarts. She rather resented that her mother couldn't understand that, so she lashed out.

"What a miserable world you must live in," Hermione said bitterly, "to think every move that you make is criticized."

"Oh, please stop with the melodrama, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said, "I'm simply being realistic. You know deep down that it's true. People are judgmental whether you like it or not."

"This whole conversation is besides the point of your letter," Hermione said. The self-consciousness from her childhood had started to creep back, and she had no reasonable response to her mother.

Mrs. Granger sat across from Hermione at the table and put her face in her hands as if suddenly exhausted by the conversation.

"Yes, that is something I ought to address," Mrs. Granger said, though she appeared in no rush to say much more. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"Of course, mum," Hermione said, a pang of remorse at at not having told her mother sooner, or on her own terms, about the engagement. When Hermione made an instinctive motion to take her mother's hand, Mrs. Granger flinched away, just enough for Hermione to notice.

"Come on, mum," Hermione said, "it's not as though someone's dying."

"I know," Mrs. Granger said with an attempt at a smile that looked more like a grimace, "it's not easy for me, that's all. Especially knowing that it's not easy on you with these horrible articles."

Hermione looked down at her own hands. She knew well enough how her mother felt about her dating Ginny. Mrs. Granger had come to an uneasy acceptance of the partnership, but it took a good deal of time and effort on Mrs. Granger's part. Hermione knew that all along; a part of her had just been hoping that Mrs. Granger would take the wedding news in stride.

"I know, " Hermione said, then swallowed and added, "will you at least be there at the ceremony? I want you and dad to be there."

"Of course," Mrs. Granger said, her voice wavering as she made another valiant attempt at a smile, "I'll be there. I, just, a part of me is reacting this way because of how I found out. I really wish you wouldn't wait several weeks to tell me things like this."

"I understand," Hermione said. For the first time in the conversation, she did understand completely where her mother was coming from. Even if there was no way to have predicted this invasion of privacy, she had put this conversation off. That delay inevitably raised the chances, however small, that the Grangers would catch wind of their daughter's engagement.

Mrs. Granger managed a smile and took Hermione's hand.

"I really am happy to see you happy," she said, "and thank you for understanding. It's hard for anyone to let go of their little girl."

Hermione allowed herself a small chuckle as she recalled her first time boarding the Hogwarts Express. She remembered how Mrs. Granger had said almost the exact same thing while fussing over Hermione's attire.

When Mrs. Granger asked what it was that Hermione was laughing about, Hermione preceded to describe the event in great detail right down to the color of her shoes. They spent the next hour reminiscing about Hermione's childhood. When a pleasant silence fell, Hermione decided that she ought to get back to Ginny, so that she wouldn't worry too much about the 'dire' news.

Hermione was in put into such a good mood by the unusually relaxed conversation she'd had with Mrs. Granger that she almost forgot entirely about Lavender Brown's role in the whole incident. That was of course until she apperated home and began telling Ginny what had transpired.

"Hey, love, you're back soon," Ginny said. She was sitting on the sofa fully dressed, an unusual occurance considering it was still rather early in the morning for her to even be out of bed. "What did your mother write about?"

When Hermione related the essential details of the conversation, particularly when Hermione mentioned Lavender's involvement, Ginny's face clouded over and she paled a bit. It was an unusual reaction for Ginny, since she usually blushed furiously when she was angry.

"What, why did you just go pale?" Hermione demanded, then noticed that Ginny was glaring over Hermione's shoulder in the direction of the kitchen, "and what the hell are you looking at?"

She spun around to see one of the last people she wanted to see at that moment.

Lavender Brown stood in the doorway and smiled as innocent as ever at Hermione and Ginny.

"Hi, Hermione," Lavender said as she strode across the room to sit on the comfy chair by the fireplace. She curled her feet under her and took a sip of tea before continuing, "I just popped over for Molly to see if you both want to come to dinner tonight. She is just _so_ busy with fixing the house up for the wedding in case you decide to have it there. Oh, Hermione, Ginny was just saying that you were visiting your parents. How did that go?"

Hermione had a hard time believing that someone like Lavender was even real. How could she seem so sincerely innocent when Hermione knew otherwise? She held back an intense urge to smack that smirk off of Lavender's face. Ginny had a similarly violent urge, which she only avoided by mumbling something about doing the dishes and leaving for the kitchen.

"I think you know damn well how it went," Hermione spat.

"Oh, so, your mother got that fascinating magazine," Lavender said, seemingly unfazed by the dangerous edge in Hermione's voice.

"Why?" Hermione said. She didn't trust herself to say anything more to Lavender for fear that she might utter a hex.

Lavender shrugged nonchalantly. "I suppose I wanted to be honest."

"Honest!" Hermione said in disbelief, "save that bullshit for someone who might believe you. I want the truth. I know you don't believe in homosexuality, and you know that I disagree. I can deal with that. What I can't fathom is why you would want to try to damage a family relationship when you have absolutely nothing to gain."

"So mother doesn't approve then?" Lavender asked. Her tone was becoming increasingly aggressive as Hermione mounted her attack.

"It wasn't your news to tell," Hermione said.

She was trying to rein in her emotions enough to maintain at least a semblance of civility until she got the answers she wanted. Hermione knew from her time with Lavender as a roommate that the girl must have a reason. She may be annoying and bratty, but Lavender was never arbitrarily mean. There was always a reason for her cattiness, and Hermione was going to get to the bottom of it.

"How does it feel," Lavender said with a sudden, unexpected surge of genuine emotion, "how does it fail to be a failure in your mother's eyes? Because that's exactly what I am to my mother. Always second best to Hermione Granger in everything. I'm fucking sick of it. You need to learn that you're a failure too."

Failure. That word, Hermione hated that word; it had been her biggest fear growing up, and it lingered with her into adulthood. Whether or not Lavender was aware of that was something Hermione couldn't be sure of. Regardless, it had become a trigger word for Hermione. She jumped off the sofa and put an arm on either side of the chair that the blonde sat in to prevent her from escaping and got right in Lavender's face.

"I am not a failure," Hermione said through gritted teeth.

Lavender, though initially was taken aback by Hermione's aggression, now appeared pleased that she had rattled Hermione.

"If you wanted to get close to me you could have just asked," Lavender said smuggly, "you had plenty of opportunities in school."

Hermione stepped back and glared as best she could at the girl sitting so implacably in Hermione's personal chair, her personal space. She'd finally had enough. Hermione got what she needed out of the girl, so she released all of the emotions she'd been so carefully concealing. She fired a warning spell that shot to the left of Lavender's head.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Lavender asked with honest surprise and shock for the first time in the conversation.

When Ginny heard the shouting coming from the living room, she thought it best to intervene. Ginny was well aware that Hermione could have an incredible temper when provoked the way that she was provoked by what Lavender did with Mrs. Granger. So she rushed into the living room in time to see Lavender, hair in disarray pointing her wand at Hermione and Hermione pointing hers back.

"Get out," Ginny said loudly, but with an evenness to her voice that surprised even Ginny. When Lavender turned to her, she continued, "You heard me. Get out of my house. Now."

"Gladly," Lavender said as she snatched up her jacket and stormed out of the house, slamming the front door behind her.

**A/N-I just can't seem to get away from Lavender as hard as I try. I want to get some more Hermione/Ginny interaction worked in, so hopefully that will come next chapter. **

**What do you think about the longer chapter? Do you prefer this length or shorter?**

**One of my dogs just died, and reviews will make me feel better. (I know, I know, it sounds a lot like a guilt trip, but that's not what I'm aiming for:))**


	9. No Fanfare

**A/N-Wow, I've turned into a really horrible updater, now haven't I? I've had this basic version on my computer for awhile, but I really don't like it at all so I was hoping to give it an overhaul. Then I had about four very long term papers to write and five finals to take (trust me, I would rather be writing fics), and I just finished everything off today, thank god. Anyway, to make up for the long wait, here's an extra long chapter. I'm still not happy with it, but I didn't want to keep you all waiting for more than 2 months...**

**I'm not JK Rowling, but you already knew that from the femslashyness of my stories. I do wonder though what she would think of the Hermione/Ginny pairing...**

The fallout from Hermione and Lavender's confrontation was immediate and surprisingly positive. Lavender had stormed out and directly to Ron's flat, hoping to find an ally in her boyfriend. She had some success, but after probing and finding out what had provoked the attack, Ron changed his mind quickly. With his usual tact, Ron told Lavender that she had it coming after writing Hermione's mother and subsequently taunting her about it.

The ensuing argument led to their eventual break up. In the heat of the argument, Lavender had given him a choice: side with her or else. When he said without hesitation that he chose Hermione and would every time, she became enraged and broke it off with him, this time, she said, for good. Ron took it well for having just broken up with someone. He appeared almost relieved at not having to satisfy such a high maintenance girlfriend.

The other unintended side effect was that Hermione became intent upon planning the wedding. Speaking with her mother had lit a fire under Hermione like nothing else. It was either that or Lavender, but Ginny suspect the conditional approval of Mrs. Granger had more to do with it.

"What do think is more muggle-ish?" Hermione asked as she held up a powder blue napkin and an off white one. She tilted her head and squinted as if examining a work of art.

"I dunno," Ginny said as she shrugged indifferently. She honestly did not think that the color of napkins would make any difference at all in making the Grangers comfortable at an entirely miagical wedding. Hermione, though, had determined that, in that case of a tie, they should think about what would be truest to Hermione's muggle lineage.

Hermione tossed the napkins on the table in front of her and sighed.

"Niether do I," Hermione said nonchalantly.

Ginny watched as Hermione leaned back in her chair and twirled her wand absently while pondering napkin choice. With anyone else, say the well intentioned Fleur or Mrs. Weasley, this might have been pure, unadulterated torture. With Hermione, even if napkin choosing wasn't the most stimulating activity, it was nice in its own way. Hermione, though very organized and efficient at planning wedding, had been surprisingly laidback about the whole thing, for which Ginny was very, very grateful. Things could have been very stressful, but things were nice. The current situation felt comfortable.

"Let's just skip this whole thing," Ginny said, gesturing to the napkins on the table. She had no idea where the thought was taking her; it was just a split second decision.

"We can't just skip napkins," Hermione said, looking at Ginny with her 'it's so obvious' expression, "I mean I know it's mundane, but we need napkins. For one, both of our mothers would probably have a fit."

"No, not napkins," Ginny said, sitting up suddenly as though the thought suddenly came fully into focus, "everything, let's just not do the whole ceremony thing. We can go find someone licensed to do the spell. I don't know about you, but I don't need a public ceremony, I don't need any of it."

Hermione looked at Ginny as though the idea had never crossed her mind. It had, of course, crossed Hermione's mind briefly when the stresses of a life lived in the tabloids had gotten the best of her. It certainly hadn't been enough to vocalize the thought. It just seemed impossible to actually do something so impulsive without any get-together to speak of. In the Weasley family, as closeknit as they were, there was no such thing as a completely private relationship. To elope as Ginny was suggesting was unheard of, not something that anyone would even consider.

Still, that didn't mean that it was wrong, just out of the ordinary. They were certainly out of the ordinary already, what with the fact that Hermione was engaged to her ex-boyfriend's sister and the first real girlfriend of her best friend. That impulse, combined with Ginny's persuasive enthusiasm, led Hermione to make an uncharacteristically spontaneous decision.

"Alright," she said, "let's do it."

Ginny nearly bounced out of her seat with the excitement at her new revelation and Hermione's agreement. She wasn't sure what to do next, but Hermione was usually better with those types of planning things anyway.

"Now?" Ginny asked, unsure of how to go about such a spontaneous gesture of commitment, considering she had never done so before in her life.

Hermione leaned back in her chair and thought about it for a moment. She did not see how they could manage something like this at 4:30 on a Saturday afternoon. There was also the family to consider. As exciting as a secret elopement sounded, it just wasn't realistic in their situation. They would need to invite at the very least Harry, Ron, Mr. & Mrs. Weasley and the Grangers. Hermione relayed this suggestion to Ginny. Ginny quickly agreed, as if suddenly realizing the potential consequences of doing something so drastic without telling her mother.

It was decided. Hermione Granger and Ginny would become the Granger-Weasley's as soon as possible.

* * *

The arrangements for the ceremony were made with incredible speed, especially in comparison to the four months that it had taken for Hermione and Ginny to start planning the ceremony in earnest. Ron and Harry were more than alirght with the quick ceremony. They had been dragged into planning by Mrs. Weasley, and they enjoyed looking at flowers and dresses about as much as Hermione enjoyed riding a broom. Both fathers tended to be laidback, and did not care one way or the other when or where Hermione and Ginny had the ceremony, especially since the girls were going to be paying for the ceremony.

It was the mothers that were the most difficult to convince.

Mrs. Granger, Hermione suspected, was still holding out hope that they would forget the whole marriage idea. She found any number of reasons she couldn't make it until about a week and a half after the decision was made. She did eventually agree to move around a few of her appointments so that she could attend the impromptu ceremony. Once it was clear that the wedding was going to happen, she actually seemed relieved that there wasn't a big spectacle surrounding the affair.

Mrs. Weasley wasn't quite so easily convinced. She, unlike Mrs. Granger was intent upon a large elaborate wedding.

"What do you mean next week?" she asked incredulously when Ginny and Hermione told her of their intentions to get married sooner rather than later.

"I mean that we want to get married next week. No fanfare. No guests besides the parents, Harry, Katie and Ron. Nothing," Ginny said. She felt the need to put emphasis on the no fanfare part, because Mrs. Weasley, though good intentioned, was all about wedding fanfare. She loved weddings almost as much as she loved nurturing.

"Why?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She appeared genuinely confused by the decision, as if Ginny had proposed that they all give up magic and move clear across the country.

"Because we don't need it. The fanfare, I mean," Ginny said, bracing herself for the argument that was sure to come.

"Well, I suppose if that's what you both want, I won't stop you," Mrs. Weasley said. Her tone clearly indicated that she was disappointed.

It was the first time in her entire life that Hermione had seen in Mrs. Weasley any resemblance to her own mother. She did the same thing, the whole subtle gulit trip thing that Mrs. Granger often did. It was unclear whether or not that was Mrs. Weasley's intended effect, but Mrs. Weasley's response did cause a small pang of gulit for Hermione. How could they disappoint Mrs. Weasley when she had done so much for them? She quickly brushed the thought aside; this was their wedding and they had to stop looking to everyone else to determine their next step.

"I don't want this to disappoint you mum," Ginny said, clearly feeling the same pang of guilt, "It would just be easier for everyone at this point to do it quietly, so we have some privacy."

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, not in a way that was really upset, but more in the way of someone trying to figure out a problem that they can't grasp.

"I just don't get it. Weddings are so special. Don't you want there to be _some_fanfare? A little bit of excitement and anticipation? That's part of the whole marriage experience," Mrs. Weasley said, gesturing broadly as if the room, the small plain living room was decorated for a wedding.

At her enthusiastic description, Hermione did have a small bit of doubt at having such a quick ceremony, even though the idea of a highly publicized wedding was unbearable at the moment. To assuage Mrs. WEasley's concerns, she suddenly came up with a plan.

"What about if we have it here?" Hermione asked. "We can have the ceremony at the Burrow and have a little party afterwards. That way it feels special. I have always loved this place and it worked out beautifully for Charlie and Percy's weddings."

Mrs. Weasley was more than happy about the idea. It gave her the opportunity to plan a celebration of matrimony, albeit a small one, and provided another very good excuse for a get together. Ginny found the plan, though surprising, to be perfectly acceptable. It satisfied Mrs. Weasley, and they had managed to keep the guest list and fanfare to a minimum.

It was decided then and there. Hermione and Ginny, come hell or high water, would be married at the Burrow in exactly one week.

* * *

The day that Hermione and Ginny chose for the wedding was an unseasonably warm one. Because of the unpredictable, cool October weather, the plan had been to have a small outdoor ceremony with heating spells and rain shield spells on top of the rest of the security measures that Ron and Harry had put in place. As it turned out, the weather spells were entirely unnecessary. The sun beat down on the backyard as final arrangements were being made, and a light cooling breeze rippled the leaves of nearby trees. If anything, the current weather called more for a cooling spell that a warming one, but neither was necessary.

A few white chairs formed a small aisle. All around the area, Mrs. Weasley and both the girls had added small, simple accent colors, mostly light, unobtrusive colors like powder blue and a pale, almost white yellow. The altar was decorated with enough flowers and accent colors to satisfy Mrs. Weasley, but the setup was small and simple enough to make Hermione and Ginny feel as though they were having the small, intimate wedding that they had been hoping for.

All members of the very short guest list had arrived at the Burrow. The witch performing the ceremony was a pleasant, middle aged woman named Margaret who worked with Hermione in the magical law department at the Ministry of Magic. She and the seven wedding guests mingled outside, enjoying the beautiful weather as Hermione and Ginny made final preparations before heading outside.

Hermione was doing nothing in particular for the first time in weeks. She stood calmly in front of the mirror, shifting occasionally to see how her light, simple white dress looked from different angles. A part of her could not believe that the wedding was actually happening. Another part of wondered how it had taken so long to finally marry Ginny. She had been ready years ago to make such a commitment, and now they were finally doing it.

"What are you thinking about?" Ginny asked from the doorway, startling Hermione out of her reveries.

"Happy things," Hermione said as she sat down on the bed, Charlie's old bed, "What about you?"

"The same," Ginny said as she walked across the room and took a seat next to Hermione. She made an effort to be as graceful as possible; her light, airy dress made that seem like the best way to carry herself. Niether said anything for a moment, sitting in a mellow contemplative silence.

"You know you shouldn't be here," Hermione said, not as a reprimand, but simply as a thought that wandered across her mind, "it's bad luck to see the bride on her wedding day."

"If that's the case, Iprobably should not have looked in the mirror this morning," Ginny said.

Hermione laughed softly and looked down at her fingers as she tangled them with Ginny's. There was another pause. They understood each other so well that there was an understanding that words were not necessary.

"It scares me, you know," Hermione said, "it scares me how much I love you. It's always been so easy for me to be in control. Then you happened, we happened, and it's been so far out of my control and wonderful at the same time. It just scares me that I can't control this intensity. I can't imagine you not being there. I mean, you will always be there, right?"

"I'll always be there," Ginny said, tears welling in her eyes as the significance of the event began to settle in, "I can't imagine it any other way."

At seeing Ginny's genuine emotion, Hermione felt tears well up in her own eyes despite her previously firm resolution to save any tears for the ceremony itself. She leant forward and kissed Ginny out of an intense desire express the love that she could not articulate. Ginny kissed back, hoping to do the same, hoping that Hermione would understand how much she meant what she said.

When they pulled apart, Ginny rested her forehead against Hermione's. There was another lull before Ginny composed herself and stood up.

"We shouldn't keep them waiting now," Ginny said as she held out a hand to Hermione, "besides, that's the perfect last kiss as an unmarried woman."

Hermione grinned and blushed at Ginny's compliment. Years ago, she might have been embarrassed by such a comment, but living with Ginny had helped Hermione to become more comfortable and laidback with such things.

"It _was_ pretty good," Hermione admitted with a grin.

"Let's go get married then," Ginny said, as she took Hermione's hand and led her out of the room to the waiting wedding party outside.

**A/N-Well, this is not suppose to be the end, but I wanted to give some closure on the off chance that I'm away for as long as I was last time (I'm on vaction now, so I'll have plenty of time). **

**I considered spliting this into 2 chapters, because it is my longest chapter by quite a bit. What did everyone think of the length? **

**Reviews, honest and truely, motivate me like nothing else. I'm not guilt tripping you here. I'm just saying it like it is.:)**


	10. These Moments

**A/N-This will almost certainly be the final chapter of this fic. I realize there wasn't really much of a conflict and that's because I had intended to make it quite a bit longer. I suppose I just ran out of steam on this one and hit a massive wall. If I do continue with my intended storyline it will almost definitely be in another fic. Anyway, I thought I owed you all at least one more chapter of Hermione/Ginny goodness. Get ready for some good old fashioned sugary sweet fluff...**

**Hey, I bought the rights to Harry Potter. That's why I've been away for so long, all that paper work and I had to get together my billions of dollars together in one big pile. Not really. Not at all actually. I still do NOT own any rights to Harry Potter, and I still am not a billionaire. I have serious doubts about either ever happening. *sigh***

Hermione and Ginny's wedding wasn't anything like Hermione had imagined her wedding would be. Really, it was the absolute opposite. Having essentially grown up surrounded by the large Weasley family, she always guessed she would have a large wedding, partly because of the family's size and partly because, in Hermione's mind, all weddings must be huge and elaborate and stressful. The Weasley-Granger wedding was none of those things. Not that it was a bad. On the contrary, Hermione loved the intimate backyard ceremony and the larger, still fairly private reception in the Weasley's backyard.

It just all seemed so easy, almost too effortless to be real. To start off with, she and Ginny worked so well together that they rarely had exceptionally large fights outside of the usual disagreements that come with living together. Then the wedding, the supposed event to end all events, had come together within a month, causing little tension between the pair or their respective families.

It was too easy, way too easy to be real. Hermione's mind had a natural habit of finding the complication, the hitch in the plan. It proved very helpful in saving the wizarding world, but at this precise moment it was proving tiresome.

Ginny, clad in her white, cotton sundress, sauntered over to Hermione's spot at the table where the brunette sat, her brow furrowed as she looked out the the group of red headed Weasley's gathered at the opposite end of the dance floor.

"So," Ginny said as she leaned over the table, resting her hands in front of her. "What can I do for you, Mrs. Weasley?"

"Your mother is Mrs. Weasley. It's Granger-Weasley," Hermione said, though she cracked a smile at hearing a version of her new surname. "There are a lot of thing you can do for me."

"Are any of them things you'd want your parents to see?" Ginny asked as she hoisted herself onto the table and leaned over next to Hermione's ear. "Or should we find somewhere more private?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and blushed. Why'd Ginny have to be so damn sexual? Not that Hermione wasn't thinking any of those things, but Ginny made self control exceedingly difficult when she actually said them like that. Hermione would never tell Ginny to stop though; she liked it way too much.

"No, you know, I was just thinking about how easy we are," Hermione mused.

"Hey, speak for yourself there, I've only had sex with _you_ for the past five years," Ginny said as she twirled a loose strand of hair that had fallen out of Hermione's bun.

"You know what I mean. This relationship, us, even the wedding, it all comes so easily and naturally, I just, I worry. I worry it's too easy, that there's some kind of catch," Hermione said.

"Listen to me," Ginny said, taking Hermione's face in her hands and rubbing Hermione's cheeks with her thumbs. "You love me, right?"

"More than anything, but—

"And I love you so much I can hardly stand it right now," Ginny said as she leaned closer so their foreheads were touching. "Maybe we've had enough heartbreak and uneasiness in our lives. Maybe we deserve this, maybe we've earned it."

Hermione smiled and looked up into Ginny's eyes. "I guess you're right."

"I know I'm right," Ginny said as she slid off the table. "Besides, if there are complications, I'm sure they'll find us just fine. We don't need you looking for them."

"Alright," Hermione said as she stood from her seat. "Consider my looking days done."

"I'd hope so, you're a married woman now," Ginny said with a smile, then nodded her head in the direction of the dancefloor, where a perky, upbeat song had just started playing. "What do you say to a dance?"

Hermione let Ginny lead her to the dance floor. They tried to keep the dancing innocent enough, since their parents were also at the party. As it turned out, such a measure wasn't necessary. Hermione's mother, unaccustomed to the heady effect that goblin made wine and firewhisky creates, was oblivious to the world and started to put on enough of a spectacle to occupy the rest of the Weasley family. Shortly after Hermione and Ginny joined the rest of the party on the dance floor, Mrs. Granger had decided that it might be a good idea to try dancing on the table.

"Hermione," Mrs. Granger yelled as she waved to her daughter. "Hey, darling. Come on up and dance with your mum."

Hermione whirled around and saw for the first time what her mother was doing.

"Mum!" Hermione let go of Ginny's hands and rushed over to the table as she saw her mother wobble dangerously. "What is your problem?"

"Whatever do you mean? I'm fabulous, better than I've been in forever," Mrs. Granger said as she sat on the table with Hermione's help. The Weasley boys looked a little bit disappointed that the spectacle had been broken up, but scattered to find something else to entertain themselves. "I might even go show your father a good time. Haven't done that in a good long time, you know. Not sure why, you know, your father is fantastic in bed. Well endowed too."

"Christ, mum," Hermione said as she snatched the glass of wine from her mother's hand. "That's something I could have gone forever without knowing."

"What, you thought we got married because our personalities fit so well?" Mrs. Granger said.

"I, I don't know mum," Hermione said as she shook her head, still trying to get past some unpleasant visuals. "Just stop. You're making a fool of yourself."

"Fine," Mrs. Granger said as she stood, her arms folded like a defiant child. "I'll just go and find your father. He'll appreciate my company."

Hermione let go of Mrs. Granger's arm and watched as her mother walked unsteadily towards the house where Mr. Granger was talking animatedly with Mr. Weasley about muggle culture, completely oblivious to what Mrs. Granger had in store for him. Hermione sighed and downed the rest of the wine in her mother's glass.

"Now there's something you don't see every day," Ginny said, trying to suppress a grin for Hermione's sake.

"No, no it's not," Hermione said. "You can laugh it's ok. She's being absolutely ridiculous."

"It's not that," Ginny said as she wrapped her arms around Hermione's neck. "Not completely. It's just I've never seen you drink a glass of wine that fast."

"Yeah," Hermione said with a faint smile as she put her arms on Ginny's waist. "Well, I guess she brings out the best in me."

Raucous laughter suddenly burst out across the yard. Both women looked over to see virtually the entire small party gathered around. Mrs. Granger had apparently just told a fabulously funny joke or story, or said something fantastically embarrassing. Either way, she had everyone in stitches.

"I don't even want to know," Hermione said as she went to take another sip before realizing that her glass was empty.

"You want to go somewhere quiet?" Ginny asked, and before Hermione could answer, she pulled Hermione in the direction of the small patch of trees at the edge of the Weasley property.

They walked for a few minutes before coming to familiar clearing. Tall trees formed a small circle and twigs and a few dead leaves lay scattered about the forest floor. The reminants of a makeshift bench composed of a few old boards and some rocks sat at the edge of the clearing. Hermione turned around and looked up at the half moon, closing her eyes and shivering as a cool breeze kicked up.

"Here, come lie down with me," Ginny said as she lay on her back with her hands under her head. "I'll keep you nice and warm."

Hermione laid down on the ground next to Ginny. She was not especially cold, but she snuggled closer to Ginny anyway. They both looked up at the moon and the stars without saying a word until Ginny broke the silence.

"Do you remember the first time we came out here?" she said as she rubbed Hermione's arm to keep her warm.

"Of course," Hermione said, resting her head on Ginny shoulder. "You want to know why?"

"Why is that?" Ginny asked.

"It was that moment. I decided I could spend the rest of my life with you," Hermione said. "You were gorgeous that evening, and I felt like I knew you better than anyone else because this is our place, no one else's."

"Really?" Ginny said after giving Hermione a kiss on the forehead. "Why did you never tell me this? About the spending the rest of our life together?"

Hermione shrugged. "I figured if we were going to be together forever there needn't be any rush. What about you, when did you figure it out?"

"Every time I kiss you, I realize it over and over again," Ginny said as she looked into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione, usually inclined to roll her eyes or say something like 'what a line' at Ginny's dramatic proclamations, instead simply kissed Ginny on the lips. If there was any day to be over the top romantic, your wedding day was certainly top of the list.

Ginny kissed Hermione back and pulled the brunette down on top of her, enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed together, separated only by the thin cotton of their dresses. Hands began to roam with increasing boldness and their neatly arranged hair began to come apart.

Hermione was getting twigs and brush in her hair but she did not particularly care. She just never wanted this moment to end. Of all of the exciting moments in her life, these were the ones that she loved the most. It was not the praise of superiors after winning a particularly difficult case, or the surge of adrenaline that she got while helping Harry defeat Voldemort years ago. It was these moments, these small moments, the kisses and the tender touches that Hermione treasured. Hermione knew she would remember these moments forever.

**A/N-So, what do you think of this chapter? The fic as a whole? Thank you so much to everyone who has taken the time to read and review. It's great to know that people are enjoying what I'm putting out there, or that they're at least giving it a chance. The whole fanfic writing thing has helped me to grow in ways I could not have imagined. I hope to continue doing it for awhile. On that note, any ideas for new projects for me? No promises, but I do like to hear other people's ideas. :)**

**I may not be a billionaire, but getting loads of reviews sure makes me feel like one :)**


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